Sunday, December 28, 2014

More charter schools

Kudos to Merryl Tisch!

The state should raise its cap to allow more charter schools, the Board of Regents chief said Sunday, running counter to the city administration's position.

"As we look to this legislative season, people are going to say we need to raise the charter cap. I personally am a great believer in charter schools ... I believe in opening them aggressively" Chancellor Merryl Tisch said on the John Catsimatidis radio show. "I'd like to push more charter schools."

Charter backers plan an effort to raise or eliminate the cap, which has 28 slots left in the city.

Tisch said the jury is out on Mayor de Blasio's recently announced plan to turn around the city's most troubled schools — but if they don't show progress, the state will step in to attempt to shut them down.

"If we do not see movement on these schools, these lowest-performing schools, in terms of their ability to retool their workforce, by the spring, we will move to close them," she said. "Because these are the schools that have failed for generations now."

Tisch was speaking on the John Catsimatidis show on Sunday when she said she's a great believer of charter schools. She also said she will try to close the city's most troubled schools if they fail to improve.